The making of the skyline: consultants in the strategic planning of Frankfurt’s high-rise cluster

[en] Within planning practice, consultants operate as external actors that can be hired to advise on or carry out a myriad of planning related activities. A growing private sector of planning professionals for hire has implications on how planning systems operate. Using the plan-making process of the newest high-rise development plan (HRDP) for Frankfurt am Main, Germany, as a case for understanding such a functioning ‘consultocracy’, this article reflects on these implications and questions how planners’ agency in arbitrating the public interest has been influenced by this emergence of consultants as significant actors in contemporary urban governance.

Disciplines :

Human geography & demography

Author, co-author :

Longobardi, Brian ; Department of Urban Development and Mobility, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg ; University of Luxembourg

HESSE, Markus ; University of Luxembourg

Dörry, Sabine ; Department of Urban Development and Mobility, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

External co-authors :

Language :

English

Title :

The making of the skyline: consultants in the strategic planning of Frankfurt’s high-rise cluster

Publication date :

23 June 2025

Journal title :

Planning Practice and Research

ISSN :

0269-7459

eISSN :

1360-0583

Publisher :

Informa UK Limited

Special issue title :

Consultocracy in planning

Pages :

1-17

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02697459.2025.2516536

FnR Project :

FINCITY C21/SC/15872360

Name of the research project :

FINCITY-European Financial Centres in Transition

Funders :

Luxembourg National Research Fund
Fonds National de la Recherche - FNR

Funding number :

15872360

Available on ORBilu :

since 23 June 2025

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